[Emma]

Just new to this forum, althought I've been reading it for a while now. I'm just wondering about the working hours in NZ. I've been hearing these horror stories about working 12 hrs a day, 6 days a week in a regular job! :wah and I figured; let's ask some experts..

So, what do you say?


btw: I have been searching on the forum about this but couldn't find it... :( Must be lacking searching skills ;)

[Diny]

Can't help you with any informaion regarding working hours but just wanted to say welcome to the forum.

Diny

[feathers]

My partner is a kiwi and currently living over there. he says that they do a 40 hour work week over there which I think is a little more than we do in the UK or in the USA. And he says that they usually start early 8 - 8.30 am (well maybe that's not too early for many folks but for me an 8am start is scary!!)
He told me that in 2006(maybe earlier) the law will change to make four weeks holiday standard whereas at the moment I think 3 weeks is considered normal. But I guess it depends on your field/employer etc etc

[Tate6]

Now, I thought some of the posts here were saying that they were finding it to be more relaxed and leaving earlier on Fridays and such.
But I am sure that all of this depends on job and employer, as it does everywhere.

And as far as hours in the US, Almost everyone I know works AT LEAST 40 hours a week. And some of those start at 7:30am.

By the way--WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/gruppe/hbsw0032.gif

Terry[/img]

[Danpoll]

in my contract as a plasterer iam scheduled to 40 hours a week i think the times are 7.30 -3.30, so that means i must be out of bed by 7.20 damn thats a lie in and hopefully be in the door by 20 to 4

cool

Dan

[wilson182]

Hi and Welcome

Hubby is a welder (I'm sure people are going to get sick of me saying that :laugh ) He leaves at approx 6.45 am and is home anywhere from 4.30-5pm. His contracted hours are 45 which I think is the norm for his industry. Some people he works with do a lot more than that, but I think that is their choice/lifestyle. 45 hours per week works for us. He does the occassional saturday morning, but again that is his choice.

When my job was advertised the hours where 8.00am - 5pm, but I explained at the time that with two children at school I wouldnt be able to start at 8am. They interviewed me anyway with the view that if I was the right person for them they were willing to negotiate. My actual hours are 9-5pm. I'm not sure if this is general or just my employers, but they are also very flexible with their attutude towards working mums. I havent been there very long and they have been very helpfull at times when I have had problems with the kids.

[Danpoll]

oh yeah if i work over 40 hours i can either accumalate the hours as time off or get paid an overtime rate.


which is fair enougth, from what i can see nz industry works on the principle that you work hard but your boss's dont take you for a ride.

Dan

[wilson182]

I think that your last comment is spot on, Dan

[Mike & Nicola]

You've got to be joking right????

I thought working hours were from 11am-3pm Tuesday-Thursday! :mrgreen:

Mike

[Moorf]

Woz working 9 - 5.30 Mon-Fri. Dare I say it.. in IT :uhoh - they have a smoko break for 15 mins in morning and one in the afternoon even though they can't now smoke in the smoko room (and he doesn't smoke anymore!). Times are flexible so he could start earlier and finish earlier etc.

Unlike the UK he doesn't stay after these hours except on the odd occasion where they have probs.

[Diny]

PB works 6 a.m to 6 p.m and is on call for the other 12 hours. He works 7 days a week for 4 weeks straight and then gets 4 weeks off.

When I was at work I was contracted to work a 45 hour week.

he says that they do a 40 hour work week over there which I think is a little more than we do in the UK or in the USA

Not too sure about that comment as I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of full time employment in the UK is at least 40 hours.

Diny

[Tate6]

My hubby works as a supervisor in a wood processing mill. He works 4 days- 7am-7pm, 4 days off then 4 nights- 7pm-7am. As he is salaried, he usually doesn't actually get to leave until all paperwork is done--1/2 hour or so longer. He commutes 1/2 hour drive, plus he likes to get there a little early to check on the crew before him. So, he leaves at 6 and gets home between 8:30 and 9:30.

I, on the other hand, work part-time at the school. I work M-F 11:45am to 3:25pm. :angel
Poor hubby! :no

Terry

[Timbo]

The company I work for let me work as many or as few hours per week/day as I want to. Unfortunately, I will not be able to be SELF employed in NZ for a while though.

[ruthyroo]

I'm in a bog standard public service job (planning) and the standard hours are 40 per week, 8am to 4.30pm. The early start took a bit of getting used to (I rolled up at 9am on my first day - an hour late!) but now I like it, more time in the evening. The big bummer is the lack of holidays - standard is 15 days unpaid leave in the first year... then 15 days paid. This was a bit of a shocker after my 30 days paid leave from my previous UK job. Up to 5 days paid sick leave. Generally quite relaxed about tea break - morning and afternoon tea being institutions in NZ.

[Wannaway]

I work in the accounting profession. Office hours are officially 8.30 to 5.00 but most people in by 8 and quite a few still here after 6. This is partly because of a lot of work and not enough people, in my line of work all the Kiwis want to go to UK/US for experience, so creates big vacuum in the local market. The environment here seems to be more hardworking and conscientious back home, with people generally putting in the hours. Most want to seem to do what they can during the week to avoid at all costs having to come in at the weekend. There is no paid overtime or time of in lieu (except if you have to work on statutory hols, a reasonably new law) also no real weighting on salaries to reflect higher cost of living in Auckland than anywhere else in NZ. My view is that generally employees are worse off here than in the UK, but most of them seem happier than people I worked with in the UK. Go figure that one!

[Annierobrigado]

if you mean worse off because of lower salary or less leave times, then maybe the kiwis are worse off. but i think they're happier because their attitude towards life is more relaxed, and as long as they can live the life they want, then they're better off. many americans have everything that the world could give them, money in the pocket, money in the bank, money coming out of their ears, recognition, awards, a new car, a new condo, countryclub membership, a yacht, a jaguar, a porsche, a speedboat, the best table at the best restaurants, the whole floor of the ritz carlton, a country house in the hamptons, a jet, whatever else you can think of, i can't think that much :laugh . BUT they still commit suicide or end up on the couch of a $500 an hour psychiatrist who will tell them the reason they're messed up is because their mom was never there for them while they were growing up. they still lack self esteem!

so which one is better off?

annie

[mechidna]

I work for the state and my hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday thru Friday. We get 96 hours vacation and 96 hours sick leave. It makes up for the pitiful wages I guess.

I'm a little confused about something. Everyone keeps mentioning contracts. I don't think most US places use contracts for general employment, probably only contractual work. Is this a common practice for most employment in UK and NZ?

Michele

[annaerb]

As a Employer we have one young guy (18) that works for us. We pay him $12hr less tax. He works from 7.30-4pm M-F and works on sat depending how busy things are generally for 5hrs. Everyone in NZ gets 3 weeks Holiday a year after their first year (Soon to change to 4), 5 days sick leave after the first year. We have bought our young man things for his car ie; Batteryetc and given him extra bonuses because he's done a good job etc, plus my OH would hate it if he left.
If a Company asks you to work on a public Holiday you get paid time & a half plus a day in lieu.
Most companies have contracts drawn up which I think may be compulsory now.

[sarahw]

Depends what line of business you're in really - for us Construction & Admin work it seems a lot slacker than at home. Everyone stops for coffee breaks and lunch - Ian actually got told off for having lunch at his desk and was told - its not all nose to the grindstone you know!

Ian works as a Surveyor in Construction and his hours are 7.30am - 4pm (and 7.30am - 3pm on a Friday - where they have a beer fridge in his office & drink for 2 hours!!!) which means he gets a whole evening - add that to less of a commute and it means we spend loads more time together - in London it was normal for both of us to be at work by 7.30am!

I am volunteering at the moment for a charity organisation. They seem to work from 9am-5pm - however, I was there until 5pm yesterday and there were only 3 of us left out of 20 odd people!!! - most people left between 3 and 4pm! and today I left at 3.40pm and there were only a handful of people left!

All our neighbours get back from work about 4-4.30pm.

:cool Its still plenty warm to sit out for a few drinks at the pub by then! :cheers

[Carol]

Primary school teacher hours:

Monday to Friday 8:15am (I'm a late starter becuase I've got three kids to get out the house) until 5:30pm
9:30pm - 11:30pm Monday to Thursday
Saturday 6am - 11am
Sunday - could be at school for anything up to about 4-5 hours.

I am honestly SERIOUSLY thinking about changing my job - purely because I am so sick of the hours I have to put in to keep up with paperwork.

:wah :wah :wah :wah :wah :wah

[Danpoll]

talking of contracts i have two great clauses in mine:

to be allowed sleep during working hours only with boss's permission

hmm afternoon naps

and no alcholol or drunkenness unless authorised by boss

you must drink that 6 pack by lunchtime!

I did ask what they were about and they didnt know, they were amused as I was.

its a hard life

Dan

[heimatseeker]

Dan, you must have the same contract as me - I got those clauses too! :nice1 Not sure yet how that plays out but we are going to a cricket game next week so maybe I'll find out then.

I'm a project manager for a small web design/marcom company and also officially work 40 hours, approx. 8-5 with an hour lunch time in there somewhere. Because I'm on salary, I don't get paid overtime if I have to stay late to finish something for a deadline, but it doesn't happen all that often.

Vacation is 4 weeks/year, and yes, that'll be the legal minimum starting April. What a change for those of us from the US!

[Dave & Sandra]

I'm on a 40 hour week. 8.30 - 5.00 and no paid overtime. Half an hour for lunch :? But 15 minutes drive to work :yes I get paid weekly as well, which feels a bit odd - I've never been paid weekly before - anywhere.

[Emma]

Hey, thanks for all the info. :nice1 That helps a lot. We're planning to move to NZ July 2006. Still have to wait so long cuz hubbie can't leave his work and I need to finish my studies (besides my 32 hrs a week job!).

Here in the Netherlands. Minimum vacation days are 23 and we have about 6 national holidays but if they happen to be in the weekend! Tough luck! I work with a big multinational so we get at least 25 vacation days and 13 work release days if your on a 40hrs a week contract. So... that'll be a lot different in NZ ... but if the work is more relaxed it's not too bad.

thanks again :P